Rise of Australia

Chapter 288 Chilean Super Dreadnought Ambition

As time entered October 1910, Arthur ushered in another piece of good news, that is, the battleships Australia and New Zealand had officially entered the navy.

That's right, it has been nearly a year since the HNA test, and these two battleships have finally passed the test successfully, and they have truly become the battleships of the Navy.

Through more than a year of manipulation and experimentation, the naval soldiers are also very familiar with these two battleships, and their combat effectiveness has initially formed.

At present, the Australasian navy already has three dreadnought ships, and the construction of two battlecruisers is about to be completed. Compared with the previous ones, the size and combat effectiveness of the navy are vastly different.

Meanwhile, Australasia also welcomed guests from South America.

Like the naval arms race between Europe, in the recent period, even from the end of the 19th century to the present, several major countries in South America, especially the three largest countries, Chile, Argentina and Brazil, have led to territorial disputes. A series of vigorous naval arms races.

Even Chile and Argentina broke out due to territorial disputes, and finally restored peace under the mediation of the United Kingdom.

But the rivalry between the three countries did not end because of the temporary peace.In the aftermath of the conflict, Britain sold two Constitution-class pre-dreadnoughts to Chile, and Argentina ordered two Rivadavia-class battleships from Italy.

After the battleship Dreadnought was born, Brazil decided to terminate the purchase of the former Dreadnought in 1907 and use all the funds to purchase the newly born Dreadnought.

The United Kingdom built two Minas Gerais-class battleships for Brazil and officially entered service this year, making Brazil the fifth country in the world to have dreadnought ships after the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia, and Australasia.

In fact, Brazil should be the third country to have dreadnoughts in history, but because of the existence of Arthur and Australasia, both Australasia and Russia have dreadnoughts in advance.

After the two dreadnoughts were officially put into service, Brazil's naval strength instantly surpassed all countries in South America.

It is precisely because of these two dreadnoughts that the South American Naval Competition officially started, and major countries have purchased more powerful dreadnoughts to check and balance their opponents.

In the middle of this year, the Chilean government passed a resolution to allocate at least 400 million pounds to expand the navy, including two battleships of more than 2 tons, six destroyers and two submarines.

At the beginning, the Chilean government planned to choose a company to build a dreadnought for itself through bidding.

However, because the shipyards in Britain and Germany are generally busy building dreadnoughts for their own countries, the companies participating in the bidding are basically shipyards in small and medium European countries.

This made the Chilean government a little discouraged. After all, the countries where these shipyards came to bid did not have dreadnoughts. The Chilean government did not believe how powerful these shipyards could build dreadnoughts.

At this time, the second warship trade order between Russia and Australasia reminded some Chilean naval and government officials of Australasia.

Although Australasia is generally not much different from those small and medium-sized countries in Europe, after all, it is a country that has concluded two warship trades with Russia, one of the great powers. The performance and combat effectiveness of the warships they built must have won the trust and approval of the Russians. recognized.

Since the Russians are heavily equipped (two trade orders for a total of four battleships and two cruisers), why should Chile have any reason to doubt it?

The battleships built in Australasia can meet the fighting needs of the great powers, but it can't even meet the fighting needs of Chile, can it?
With this in mind, the Chilean government sent a visiting team and decided to go to Australasia for a personal inspection.

The Chilean inspection team attracted Arthur's attention. Of course, he was actually interested in the funds of the Chilean mission.

Although Arthur didn't know that Chile had planned to purchase warships in Australasia, Arthur knew that this was the time for the South American naval competition, and the arrival of the Chilean diplomatic team was most likely for the dreadnoughts in Australasia.

In fact, the Chilean representative was straightforward enough to express the Chilean government's intention to inspect the dreadnoughts in Australasia.

After hearing the report from Foreign Minister Andrew, Arthur didn't think much about it, and asked Minister Andrew to take the Chilean delegation to the Royal Dockyard.

On the way to the Royal Dockyard, Minister Andrew was slightly surprised by the conversation with the Chilean.

The requirements of the Chileans are not low. The requirements for battleships are at least 28000 tons of giant battleships, and they must be equipped with 12-inch cannons.

12 inches is easy to handle. After all, the 12-inch cannon is actually a 305mm main gun, and all the dreadnoughts in Australasia are equipped with this kind of main gun.

But the problem is that the tonnage of the dreadnought is a bit difficult to handle. Even the Sovereign-class battleship has a full-load displacement of only 20910 tons, which is far from the Chilean 28000-ton giant battleship.

In fact, the battleship originally built according to the requirements of the Chileans in history was already the most powerful super dreadnought ship at that time.

With the development of dreadnoughts, the caliber of the main gun has increased to 13.5 to 15 inches, and the effective range of the artillery has continued to increase. The main gun turrets are arranged on the horizontal longitudinal axis of the hull, reducing or canceling the main gun turret in the midship. And the displacement is increased to more than 25000 tons. This level of dreadnought is usually called a super dreadnought.

In fact, the first country to develop and build super dreadnoughts is still the British Empire, which is why George V was able to agree to hand over the drawings and technology of the St. Vincent-class battleship to Arthur.

The first super dreadnought ship of the British Empire is called the Orion-class battleship. It is the four main battleships newly designed by the British in order to cope with the pressure of the strong naval shipbuilding competition with Germany.

The Orion-class battleship focused on improving its firepower, and it was completely different from the previously built dreadnoughts. It was called a super dreadnought by the British.

The more important change is that the Orion-class battleship is equipped with a 13.5-inch main gun, which far exceeds the 12-inch main gun of the St. Vincent-class battleship.

This also allowed the caliber of the battleship's artillery to jump directly from 305mm to 343mm, greatly enhancing its firepower.

Construction of the first Orion-class battleship, HMS Orion, has started at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard and was even quietly launched in August this year.

Thanks to the confidentiality experience of the last battleship Dreadnought, the confidentiality of the launch of the battleship Orion is very good, and it has not been known by other countries yet.

The Chilean's outrageous request made by Minister Andrew made Arthur instantly think of the super dreadnought that should be born or has already been born in history.

Australasia has managed to take the lead in the world in terms of dreadnoughts, and such a leading position cannot be easily given up.

Arthur made a decisive decision, summoned naval experts, and asked the naval experts to design a large warship with a gross tonnage of no less than 23000 tons and a full load displacement of no less than 27000 tons, following the requirements of the Chileans.

Arthur requested that not only the firepower be strengthened, but also the armor protection and power system of the warship be strengthened, so that the warship can still maintain a speed of around 21 knots under the premise of a substantial increase in size and weight.

This requirement is a difficult problem for the experts of the Naval Shipyard. After all, they have nothing to learn from such large warships at present. They can only rely on the drawings and materials of the Sovereign-class battleship and St. Make improvements and changes in all aspects, and strive to achieve the data and results required by Arthur.

After visiting the Royal Dockyard for a few days, the Chileans are very satisfied with the Royal Dockyard in Australasia.

The only fly in the ointment is that the first battleship currently in possession of the Royal Dockyard (only the Sovereign class is displayed and exported) has a full load displacement of less than 21000 tons.

Even if some changes are made in some aspects, the full load displacement of the Sovereign-class battleship cannot exceed 22000 tons, which is not a small distance from the 28000 tons expected by the Chileans.

But there is good news. Minister Andrew personally assured them that under Arthur's order, the Royal Dockyard is already designing a super battleship with a full load tonnage of about 28000 tons. The design requirements of the battleship are based on the needs of the Chileans, basically able to meet the requirements of the Chileans.

Chile's diplomatic team decided to reach a preliminary cooperation with the Royal Shipyard after careful consideration and a telegram asking for domestic opinions.

If the new warships designed by the Royal Shipyard meet the needs of the Chileans, at least most of them, then the Chileans will formally sign an order with the Royal Shipyard for two battleships, six destroyers and two submarines.

The main reason why the Chileans decided to wait for the design results of the Royal Shipyard is that the current development of the Royal Shipyard in Australasia is really good, and the Royal Shipyard has all warship systems including battleships, destroyers and submarines. It looks much more reliable than those small and medium-sized European countries that have no dreadnoughts at all.

What's more, the Chileans also saw some German and British faces in the Royal Dockyard.

This also means that the Royal Dockyard in Australasia is supported by German and British technical experts.

The Chileans believed that under the guidance of British and German experts, the warships built by Australasia were absolutely guaranteed.

Witnessed by Arthur, the Chilean diplomatic team signed a treaty with the Royal Dockyard.

If it is determined that the new warship meets most of Chile's requirements, then the warship order becomes official.If the requirements cannot be met, the warship order will be officially voided.

If the warship order is invalidated, the Chileans do not need to pay any funds.

This is why the Chileans are willing to sign the treaty. After all, the Chileans do not need to spend money before the warship order takes effect.

In fact, Arthur also had a purpose in reaching such a treaty with the Chileans.After all, in terms of super dreadnoughts, Australasia can be regarded as independent research, and there is no reference.

If there is an order from the Chileans, there will be an opportunity for the shipyard to accumulate experience when building a super dreadnought in the future. When the super dreadnought is built for Australasia in the future, the shipyard will be handy. Efficiency will be accelerated, and the probability of problems will be greatly reduced.

　The third update of 3200 words, please support, please ask for a monthly ticket!

　　Today is 10600, 10000/[-] has been updated, the task has been overfulfilled, please ask for a monthly pass!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)